Lubricating apparatus



0a. 24, 1939.r E. W. DMS 2,117,057

LUBRICATING APPARATUS Filed Jan. 22, 1957 HIIINIJ Erw/gsi' "Patentedoct. 24, 1939 UNITED STATES LUBRICAT'ING APPARATUS Ernest W. Davis, OakPark, Ill., assignor-to Stewart-Warner Corporation, Chicago, Ill., acorporation of Virginia Application January 22, 1937, Serial No. 121,742

4 Claims.y (Cl. 284-17) My invention relates generally to high pressurelubricatingapparatus, and more particularly to improvements in couplersfor use in such systems.

5 It is an object of my invention to provide an improved form of couplerfor high pressure lubricating systems/particularly for use with socalledbutton head or industrial fittings.

A further object is to provide an improved form of coupler` for 'highpressure lubricating apparatus in which means are provided mechanicallyto open the check Valve of the lubricant' receiving fitting incidentalto the application of lubricant pressure to the coupler, and therebydecrease l5 the amount of pressure required to force lubricant into thefitting.

Other objects will appear from the following description, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawing,` in which:

Fig. 1 is an elevation of a lubricant compressor, discharge hose, andcoupler, and a sectional view of the bearing having lubricant 'receivingfitting attached thereto;

Fig. 2 is a central vertical sectional view of the coupler with theparts shown in normal podesirable to provide the lubricant receivingfittings with inlet check valves held closed by relatively powerfulsprings, to prevent the return iiow and escape of lubricant from thefittings and to prevent the admission of foreign matter to the fittingdue to the accidental opening of the check valve. For example, alubricant receiving fitting may be provided with a check valve whichwill open only whensubjected to a lubricantl pressure of four hundredpounds per square inch. In supplying lubricant to a bearing equippedwith a tting of this character, the operator of the lubricantcompressor' must therefore supply the lubricant to the tting at apressure in excess of four hundred pounds per square inch, whereas infact the bearing itself offers but a very low 50 resistance to the flowof a lubricant, andthe major portion of the resistance to flow, andhence the back pressure, is offered by the spring pressed checkvalve.

In accordance with my present invention, I

u provide a coupler which, although utilizing -lubricant pressure forits operation, is effective to multiply the action of the lubricantpressure so that lubricant may be forced past the check valve of thelubricant receiving tting and into a low resistance bearing atapproximately one-tenth 5 the pressure ordinarily-required. The worknecessary to pump the lubricant into the fitting is thus greatlyreduced, and the lubrication operation thereby expedited andfacilitated.

In the accompanying drawing, I have illus- 10 trated a lubricantcompressor i0 which is manually operated by a handle l2. The lubricantfrom the compressor is discharged through a ilexible conduit I4, thefree end of which is connected to a coupler I 6. This coupler isconstruct- 15 ed and arranged to make a detachable sealed connectionwith the lubricant receiving fitting I8 attached to a bearing 20 to besupplied with lubricant. As shown in Figs. 2 and 3, the coupler i6comprises a body 22'Which is connected by a 20 suitable iitting 24 withthe discharge hose I4.

v The body 22 is provided with a suitable slot 2B to receive the flangedhead 28 of the lubricant receiving fitting IB.

The fitting I8 has an inlet opening 3U, in the 25 constructionillustrated, formed in a valve seat insert 32 pressed or otherwisesuitably secured in the bore 34 of the fitting. The check valve 36 ispressed against the valve seat formed at the inlet opening 3U of thefitting by a relatively strong 30 compression coil spring 38. Inasmuchas the tting may be used with relatively viscous lubricants, it isdesirable that the spring 38 be sufficiently powerful to force the valve36 against its seat under the most adverse conditions, and thus 35prevent the escape of lubricant from the fitting and prevent theadmission of particles of grit and dirt.

A seal between the coupler and the face of the fitting is obtained bymeans of a cupped sealing 40 member 40, which may be made of leather ora. suitable grease-resistant rubber composition, and is slidable in abore 42 formed in the body 22. A dished annular retainer 44, preferablymade of hard steel, holds the lower end of the sealing member 40 inshape and prevents abrasion thereof as the coupler is attached to anddetached from the fitting. T he engagement of the retainer 44 with aninwardly directed flange 45 at the lower end of bore 42 limits outward(downward) 50 movement ofthe sealing member. The sealing member 40 isheld in contact with the end Aface of the fitting by a compression coilspring 46. Lubricant is supplied to the cylinder 42 above the sealingmember 40 through a passageway 48 55 which communicates with the inletof the coupler to which the iitting 24 is connected. An extension of thepassageway 48 leads to a threaded opening 52 in the body 22 which isclosed by a screw plug 54. By interchanging the plug 54 and fitting 24,the coupler may be converted from the pull-on type, wherein the couplermay be pulled over the fitting, tothe push-on type, wherein theconnection with the fitting is made by pushing the coupler relative tothe iitting.

An enlarged threaded yopening 56 is formed in the top of the couplerbody 22 to receive a cylinder fitting 58 which is internally bored toform a cylinder 6D fora piston 62. The piston 62 has a hollow stem 64secured thereto and is normally held in the position shown in Fig. 2 bya conical spiral spring 66. The space beneath the piston 62 is in opencommunication with the atmosphere through a vent passageway 68. Thepiston stem 64 is guided in a member 'l0 threaded in a bore 'l2 andsealed by a gasket 13, and a seal about the stem is effected by ahat-shaped packing ring 14 which is held in position by the compressioncoil spring 46. The lower end of the stem 64 is provided with aprojection 16 which lies within the lubricant conducting passageway 18formed in the sealing member .40. A pair of ports 80 permit flow oflubricant from the passageway 48 and pass abovethe sealing member 40into the hollow stem 64.

The cylinder fitting 58 has a centralthreaded opening to receive a plug82 which may be interchanged with the hose connection tting 24 ifdesired.

When the parts of the coupler are in their respective positions as shownin Fig. 2, and lubricant under pressure is supplied from the compressorl0 through the conduit I4, the lubricant will iiow through thepassageway 4B into the bore 42 above the sealing member 40 and thencethrough the openings 80 and hollow stem 64 into the cylinder 60 abovethepiston 62. The piston 62 will thus be forced downwardly, causing itsprojection 16 to depress the check valve 36 to open position, as

4 shown in Fig. 3, thereby permitting lubricant readily to flow throughthe passageway 18 ofA the sealing member 40 into the lubricant receivingfitting and hence to the bearing to be lubricated.

Upon discontinuing the pumping operation, the spring 66 will force thepiston 62 upwardly, the lubricant theretofore contained in the cylinderbeing forced downwardly through the piston stem and into the tting untilthe check valve 36 has closed against its seat. Any lubricant escapingpast the packing ring 14 or piston 62 is permitted to escape to theatmosphere through the vent passageway 66. After the piston 62 has beenreturned to its normal position by the spring 66, the coupler mayreadily be disconnected from the fitting by sliding the headtransversely of the What I claim as new and desire to sec'ure'by` UnitedStates Letters Patent is:

l. A couplei` for high pressure lubricating systems comprising a rigidbody having a bore therein, means for connecting-said bore to a sourceof lubricant under pressure, a sealing member relubricant pressure, aspring for moving said piston in the opposite direction, a valveengaging element actuated by said piston and operable upon theapplication of lubricant pressure to said piston to engage the checkvalve of said fitting over a limited area of its exposed face and moveit from its seat to permit relatively free ow of lubricant from thecoupler into said tting.

2. In a high pressure lubricating system having a lubricant compressor,a lubricant receiving fitting comprising a headed body having an inletopening, a check valve for closing said opening, and a relatively strongspring for holding said check valve in closed position, the combinationof a coupler having a transverse slot for receiving the head of saidtting and connected thereto by movement transverse to the axis of thefitting, asealing member engageable with said fitting around the inletopening thereof to make a lubricant-tight .joint between the coupler andthe fitting, means moved from normal position by the pressure of thelubricant supplied to said coupler by said compressor to open said checkvalve when subjected to lubricant pressures substantially less thancould be directly resisted by the check valve in said fitting, and aspring operable to return said means to normal position upon reductionof the lubricant pressure.

3; A coupler for high pressure lubricating apparatus comprising, a bodyhaving means for making a detachable mechanical connection with alubricant receiving fitting, a sealing member having a passagewaytherethrough leading to a face engageable with a lubricant receivingfitting, a cylinder in said body, a piston reciprocable in saidcylinder, a stem secured to said piston and having a part projectingthrough the passageway.

in said sealing member, means to supply lubricant to said cylinder tomove said piston in a direction to project said part beyond the face ofsaid sealing member, and a` spring to move said piston and said part inthe opposite direction.

4. I n a high pressure lubricating system having a fitting with aninwardly opening check valve backed by a relatively strong spring tohold the valve closed, a coupler for connecting a source of lubricantunder pressure to the tting comprising, means for making a quickdetachable connection between the source and the iitting, sealing meansactuated by the pressure of lubricantV supplied by said source formaking a. lubricant-tight connection, a cylinder of relatively largecross sectional area, a piston reciprocable in said cylinderand-operable upon application of lubricant pressure thereto to move inone direction, a spring for moving said piston in the oppositedirection, and means actuated by said piston independently of saidsealing means for engaging and unseating said valve.

ERNEST W. DAVIS.

